


Time-Out

by Mercey



Series: "He saved my life." [2]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Erik is The Baby Whisperer, M/M, Nerik, Nerik tackle babysitting, Nicky's good with toddlers, lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:02:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26871847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mercey/pseuds/Mercey
Summary: ‘Crap, crap, crap, crap, cra—’‘Eli. I’ll give you extra ice cream if you don’t say that word in front of Uncle Erik,’ Nicky whispered frantically, not above bargaining with a toddler.He hadn’t meant to say it.Or: Nicky and Erik try babysitting and Nicky gets into trouble.
Relationships: Nicky Hemmick/Erik Klose
Series: "He saved my life." [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1960429
Comments: 24
Kudos: 47





	Time-Out

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gothdeclanlynch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gothdeclanlynch/gifts), [minyardmonster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/minyardmonster/gifts), [5a5b5p5](https://archiveofourown.org/users/5a5b5p5/gifts).



> Here's some Nerik fluff, inspired by a lovely group chat on Twitter. Thanks guys <3

‘Crap.’

Nicky had never given much thought to whether or not he wanted kids.

‘Crap, crap, crap.’

But his three-year-old nephew dancing around the living room, merrily singing the word Nicky hadn’t meant to let slip was certainly something to consider.

‘Crap, crap, crap, crap, cra—’

‘Eli. I’ll give you extra ice cream if you don’t say that word in front of Uncle Erik,’ Nicky whispered frantically, not above bargaining with a toddler.

He hadn’t meant to say it. He’d been watching cartoons with Eli, making funny commentary that would make Eli laugh, when the little frog character had leaped away to what looked like an outhouse.

_‘Is this frog really taking a sh— crap?’_

Nicky had forgotten what constituted a “Bad Word” in the minds of children and, though he had avoided saying a much worse word, he had still managed to fuck up spectacularly.

Eli pointed his pudgy little finger at Nicky. ‘Bad Uncaw Nicky!’

‘Yes, yes,’ Nicky said, ‘very bad Uncle Nicky. But we don’t want you to be bad too, do we?’

Nicky had to get this under control before Erik got back from putting the baby to bed. Erik’s sister, Mia, had three kids. Ben, who was five and currently entertaining himself with matchbox cars, Elias—Eli—who was three and a menace to society, and Finn, who was about to turn one and cried whenever Nicky tried to go near him. 

Babysitting had been a terrible idea, in hindsight.

‘Ewy good,’ Eli said resolutely, climbing up onto the couch beside Nicky. ‘ _Bad_ Uncaw Nicky!’

‘Okay, okay, okay,’ Nicky said, plonking Eli in his lap and catching him when the boy went limp and nearly fell. ‘So, what does Uncle Nicky have to do to be good again?’

Ben looked up from where his matchbox cars were having a wedding. ‘You need a time-out,’ he said simply, like Nicky was stupid.

‘Okay!’ Nicky looked around for potential time-out spots. ‘Do I sit in the corner?’

‘No!’ Eli cried. ‘You have to go to the steps and fink about why it’s a bad word.’

 _Sheesh,_ Nicky thought. _Mia doesn’t mess around with discipline._

‘I’m going, I’m going.’ Nicky got up and was herded to the steps by the two boys, neither of whom were laughing. It would be a lie to say that Nicky wasn’t intimidated by their tiny, stern expressions. 

‘Here?’ Nicky asked, sitting on the bottom step.

‘Higher!’ Eli decreed.

Nicky moved a step higher.

‘More than that,’ Ben said.

Nicky moved back one more. 

‘Mow higher!’ Eli cried.

They were giggling now and Nicky knew how to handle this. ‘Like this?’ he asked before letting himself slide down a few steps. ‘Ow! My bottom!’ he howled playfully, sending both boys into hysterics. 

‘Higher! Higher!’ both boys began chanting and Nicky obliged, shuffling up the steps and down all in the name of keeping the gremlins entertained.

Erik’s amused voice came from the top of the stairs. ‘What is going on here?’

Nicky leaned backwards so when he looked up Erik was upside down. He was holding Finn, bouncing the red-faced infant slightly with a smirk on his lips. Nicky’s breath caught in his throat.

‘I’m— uh. I’m in a time-out,’ Nicky explained.

Erik raised an eyebrow. ‘The kids put you in a time-out?’

Nicky pulled a face. ‘They’re very persuasive. We can be quiet from now on, you go get Finn to sleep.’

‘Don’t worry about it.’ Erik sighed, rubbing his eye and descending the steps. Nicky stood up to make room for him. ‘Mia said he might not go down because of the teething. We just have to hold him until he passes out.’

‘Poor little tyke,’ Nicky cooed, touching Finn’s cheek. Finn wailed and buried his face in Erik’s neck in response. ‘You think he’ll ever like me?’ 

‘I think you’ll convince him when he’s old enough to appreciate your dramatics.’ Erik grinned, indicating the shenanigans on the stairs.

Nicky snorted. ‘Very funny, Klose.’

The remainder of the evening passed without too much drama, aside from Ludwig the ladybug totally screwing over Naya the mouse in an episode of JoNaLu. 

Ben went to sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, but Eli needed a little more incentive. 

‘Weed to me! Weed to me!’

Nicky looked at Erik, scandalised. ‘What kind of house does your sister run?’

Erik rolled his eyes and tossed Nicky a book. 

_Oh,_ Nicky realised. _Read to me._

‘Okay, quickly, get under the covers. Go, go, go!’ 

Nicky laughed as Eli leaped onto his little race car bed and clambered under the piles of blankets. 

Taking his place at the foot of the bed—on the hood of Eli’s “car”—Nicky opened the book. He read the monotonous and repetitive tale of a caterpillar who probably needed to chill out on eating so much, but Nicky supposed he _was_ primarily eating fruits and vegetables, so good for him. 

He closed the book and looked up to find Erik smiling in that incredibly soft, sexy way he only did sometimes, with Finn asleep against his shirt. After ensuring Eli was all tucked in, Nicky joined Erik in the doorway. 

‘You have the magic voice,’ Erik whispered, nodding at the sleeping baby in his arms.

‘Well, you have the magic touch,’ Nicky whispered back.

‘Yes, but we already knew that.’ 

Nicky laughed quietly, feeling warm and content and happy. He had images of his life in the future; of Erik with a baby that was _theirs._ Of this bedtime routine becoming _their_ routine. He wanted that future. It was scary, and surprising, and so, so weird, but Nicky wanted that future with Erik. He wanted them to be dads.

Meeting Erik’s soft brown eyes was like looking in a mirror of doubt, apprehension, and longing, but before either of them could say anything— 

‘Psst! Uncaw Nicky!’

Nicky didn’t look away from Erik’s eyes. He didn’t want to break this moment between them. ‘Yeah, kiddo?’

‘Crap,’ Eli declared, and burst into giggles.

Erik’s lips pressed together as he tried not to laugh. Nicky shook his head in a way that said _please don’t ask._

‘Goodnight, Eli,’ Nicky said, and closed the door softly behind them. He could—and would—deal with Mia’s wrath later. For now the kids were in bed, and Nicky could spend a whole evening cuddling with his husband on the couch, possibly discussing their future, and possibly not discussing anything. Nicky was in no rush to get to the family part of their lives, but he hoped they’d get there some day.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are always appreciated <3 
> 
> I'm also on [tumblr](https://m-ercey.tumblr.com/) and [twitter.](https://twitter.com/m_ercey) Come say hi :D


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